Lucerne Valley man awarded $1.72M in 2008 crane accident

VICTORVILLE • A jury awarded a Lucerne Valley man $1.72 million in compensation after he got injured during a 2008 accident in which a crane hit power lines and electrocuted the operator.

Plaintiff Kenneth Ward was setting up K-rail in the evening of April 16, 2008 at the intersection of Air Expressway and Highway 395 in Adelanto, working with five others to install a stop light. Paul Henry, 29, was operating a crane when lights at the site went out.

Ward and two others told Henry to stop operating the crane, but Henry continued working, said James Alderson, Ward's attorney. The crane ran into the 12,000-volt overhead power lines, and one of the tires caught on fire.

Henry got electrified after he went underneath the crane to check the fire. Another worker, Daniel Muro, tried to pull him out but also got electrified. Ward, trying to put out the fire, touched the crane and was blown back, Alderson said.

Henry was transported to a local hospital where he died.

Ward experienced seizures and suffered numbness to his hands and feet as well as post traumatic stress disorder, Alderson said. Muro had 20-percent of his body burned, according to Alderson.

Ward and Muro sued Hill Crane Service Inc., Henry's employer, for negligence. Alderson said Henry obtained his license six weeks before the accident and that Hill Crane Service didn't train him.

John Duffy, who represented Hill Crane Service, said his side knew the company had liability. But Duffy argued that Ward's long-term disability, which led to his unemployment, stemmed from a fractured foot he sustained 2 1/2 years after the accident, not from the electric shock.

The Victorville jurors sided with Ward and came back with the verdict Wednesday. Ward, who went to Apple Valley High School, turned 50 during the trial.

Muro reached an undisclosed settlement with the company before the trial.

Tomoya Shimura may be reached at (760) 955-5368 or TShimura@VVDailyPress.com. Follow Tomoya on Facebook at facebook.com/ShimuraTomoya.

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